A CHANGE OF PACE... some time off (Part 136f)

A CHANGE OF PACE... some time off (Part 136f)

Having just turned the headlights off my eyes hadn’t adjusted to the darkness. It was only a matter of seconds for me to recognize who the white objects moving my way were. Sabrina’s unmistakable voice gave it away. I really didn’t understand what she was saying at first, naturally shrill, was at an even higher pitch. I’d given the flashlight to Elle so couldn’t use that to really see who the other person was but quickly determined it was Bebe. Sabrina was clearly upset... but as I’d come to realize that was a fairly normal state of mind for her. Her plea was that something smelled funny. As I wrote in the last post I’d smelled something in the air so told her that it would probably disappear in a short while. Her response to that was a very clear “NO! It’s in the house” and she wanted me to come over to see what it was.

My reaction was to ask where Martin was and, looking at Bebe, where was Pete. Bebe spoke up to say they were on a weekend fishing trip with Pete’s father. I’d been that route with her twice before and really didn’t want to do it again. There was no way I was going to wander around in an unfamiliar house with no lights looking for some sort of 'smell'. When I’d given Elle the flashlight it was almost useless as the batteries were worn down by then and I knew we didn’t have any spares. I asked if she had one and when she said she didn’t I asked why and didn’t get a response. My thought was that there was no way in hell that this woman should be out and on her own. Then I asked what the smell was like and she said she didn’t know. I heard something from Bebe and she said it smelled like her brother’s work shop when he was working with metal. That didn’t help me any. It was about then I heard Elle call my name from the kitchen door asking where I was.  I was about halfway down the path from the driveway to the house so started to move that way as I responded to her. As I did the two women moved with me. Then Elle asked who was with me. I wanted to give her a smart-assed answer by saying “Who else?”, but didn’t.

Elle had let the girls go to bed without washing up and brushing their teeth and had come downstairs to find out where I was. When I told her Sabrina and Bebe were there she came outside to join us. By then my eyes had adjusted to the darkness and I could see she had her nightie on. It was about the length of one of her tennis dresses so her panties (or, I should say, ‘package’) didn’t show. Since I’d not responded favorably to their request, Sabrina and Bebe turned to Elle to lobby her to get me to check on the smell in their house but I cut them short. Elle did pick up on the fear in their voices and suggested that they could stay with us. I shook my head and didn’t say anything, but I sure wanted to.

Hearing the offer Bebe said that she could sleep anywhere... a chair, couch or even the floor. We did have the one bedroom with just a single bed that was available and there was also the sleep sofa in the den that we bought when we lived in the mobile home. It hadn’t been opened since it was moved into the house and my first thought that it would probably be pretty musty. Sabrina jumped in to say that she would do the same and that she didn’t want us to go out of our way for them... but it would REALLY be appreciated if they could sleep in our house.

Elle insisted that I open up the sofa bed and, when Sabrina saw it was a double bed size, said that would work. Bebe quickly agreed. Elle, wanting to be a good host, had gone in the linen closet and brought out a wash cloth and towel for each along with two pillows. There was a bed pad covering the mattress and they wouldn’t let Elle bring out sheets. While that last verbal exchange took place I took the time to figure out what each was wearing, something I hadn’t focused on up to then.

Bebe’s favorite color for pants was white and were usually Bermudas or jean type. I could see her knees so accepted that they were shorts. I could make out her blouse to be a light colored cap sleeved one. Sabrina’s primary choice was to wear flowered Summer dresses that fell above the knee and, looking across the bed, I could see her full kneecaps. Elle tried to get them to accept something other than the clothes they were wearing to sleep in but they both insisted that they would be fine just the way they were. With that Elle and I headed upstairs. In our bedroom I reminded Elle of the fact that Sabrina had admitted that she sometimes wet the bed. She whispered back that she wasn’t going back downstairs and risk embarrassing her in front of Bebe.

I didn’t sleep well at all. I was awake when it started to get light out and quietly got up and dressed. I figured I could get a head start on cleaning up the yard. Tip toeing down the stairs I took a peek into the den where Sabrina and Bebe were sleeping hoping to get at least a peek of Sabrina’s panties. It wasn’t what I’d hoped for but I did get to see a bit of one cheek. However, seeing her panties reminded me of the prospect of doing the inspection of her house again and having a specific target of Bebe’s room. That thought got me on my way.

I decided to do a walk around the house first and then do the whole yard. With no trees in the front yard there wasn’t much to see there. From the back of the house out to the property line where the farm land started was littered with leaves twigs and small branches. When I reached the back property line and looked over to Sabrina;s property I got a major shock.

Both parcels of land (for each house) had been carved out of farmland. Both had been built around the same time  in the mid 1930’s. It was obvious to me that the original owners of each had purchased young maple trees and planted them as each and every one on both properties were about the same size. However, the ones on my property had been planted in various places around the back yard. On Sabrina’s property the owners had planted five of them, in a line, across the back of the property. As I looked to the East I saw something that I’d never seen before... the second tree wasn’t really there. Oh, it was, but it was in pieces. I’ve tried to come up with a way to describe what I was looking at and the best analogy I could think of was to picture a bundle of celery and then peel down the stalks (but without removing them) that make it up. I deduced that lightning had struck the tree and it had exploded from the middle out. There were five main parts that had been peeled away with one of them leaning against the garage. The other four made up somewhat of a wide circle with two of them nested against the adjacent trees. I worked my way though the downed portions to get to see the middle and it was there that I saw the scorch marks. That told me what the explosion was that I’d heard the night before.

To be continued...