The Fremont Saga
by: E Walk
(© 2009 by the Author)
 

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Chapter 49  

Decisions, Decisions

Doctor Herschel Blackstone asked, “Brain, would you please ask Merry to come talk to us?  She needs to make some big decisions.  It’s unfortunate that all of this is happening at the same time.”

I went and told Merry that Doctor Blackstone wanted to talk to her.  She reluctantly followed me into the living room.  Doctor Blackstone didn’t waste any time,

“Merry, I know you're looking forward to the ski trip tomorrow, but what are you going to do about your mother’s affairs.   Do you know anyone that you can contact to provide you assistance?”

“I could call the house where mother lived and see if anyone is there?  She didn’t have any other living relatives that I know of.  I have a card with the name of the person who sends me money every month at the school.  I honestly know nothing about mother’s personal or financial affairs.”

Dad spoke up, “Merry, for starters, call the house number and see if anyone answers.  We need to get started somewhere.  Why don’t you put the speaker on, so we can hear what is being said and perhaps we can provide some assistance if you need any.”

The phone was answered on the first ring, “This is the Black household, Consuela speaking.”

“Consuela, it’s Merry.  I understand that my Mother died, and people are looking for me.”

“Oh senorita, people have been trying to figure out where you disappeared to.   No one knows where you are.”

“Consuela, I called Mother and told her where I was going to be, on Wednesday night.  She had the name and the telephone number of the people whom I was going to be visiting, here in Fremont.”

“Merry, I gave that information to the police who were here, but there is no one fitting that name at that address in Fremont, California.”

“Consuela, I specifically told Mother that I was going to be in Fremont, Nebraska.  Do you have any numbers of people whom I should call?”

“Senorita Merry, you should probably call your mother’s lawyer and let him know where you are.  He can tell you what you need to do.  He left a card with his name and telephone numbers, in case you should call.  His name is Frank Ryder and his phone number is 493-854-5660.  His cell phone number is 493-191-8450.”

“Thanks, Consuela.  I’ll talk to you soon.”

Dad looked at Merry. “I doubt very much if Mr. Ryder is in his office.  Do you know Mr. Ryder?”

“I know him to see him, but that’s about all.  He’s the son of your mother’s previous lawyer who retired.”

Mr. Blackstone looked at his watch, “Why don’t you try his cell phone, to see if you can get in touch with him?”

Merry dialed the number.  It took a couple rings before a voice answered, “This is Frank Ryder, how can I help you.”

“Mr. Ryder, this is Merry Black.  I understand that my Mother has died, and that you have been trying to get in touch with me.”

“Merry, the police and I have been trying to get in touch with you since last Thursday.  The police have practically gone door to door in Fremont looking for you.”

“Mr. Ryder, I told Mother that I was going to be in Fremont, Nebraska, and no has been looking for me, here.”

“Merry, we called the school where we thought you were to be, for the holidays, but they said you left with a family by the name of Benson, but wouldn’t give us any more particulars.”

“Mr. Ryder, this is Beau Benson, I can assure you that Mrs. Black knew where Merry was going to be.  We heard Merry make the phone call to her Mother.  Merry is safe and sound, and in fact, her birth father and his wife are here, as we’re talking.”

There was a dead silence, “How did the Blackstones find out where she was and we couldn’t?

“The Blackstones are here for an entirely different reason, that had nothing to do with Merry.  What is it that Merry needs to do and does it have to be done before next week?  She is scheduled to join my family and me on a ski trip to Switzerland, in the morning.”

Mr. Ryder sounded a little miffed, “Mr. Benson, why should a skiing trip take precedence over making arrangements for a deceased one.”

Merry took over. “I know for a fact that Mother was paying you well for your services.  I also know that she wanted to be cremated.  It would seem to me that you have been paid enough that you can make the arrangements for that to happen and that you could put an obituary in the paper saying burial arrangements would be finalized later.”

“Merry, you will be inheriting a large amount of money.  We need to get that taken care of as soon as possible.  You will have to decide what you want to do with the mansion.”

“Mr. Ryder, I fail to see why you think these things should happen immediately.  I’ve decided that I am going on this trip to Switzerland.  I can sit down and sort out what needs to be done, instead of you people who want to make money from my mother’s estate telling me what I should and shouldn’t do.  If you need to contact me, I’ll put Brain Benson on and he can explain how you can get in touch with me.”

“Mr. Ryder, this Brian Benson.  We’ll be at the Chalet La Fontaine.  I have an email address.  I can send you the other particulars after we arrive, tomorrow.  Why don’t you give me an email address where I can contact you?  Surely anything that needs to be done or arranged can be done via email.  I think that the best thing for Merry to do right now is be able to sort things out without outside intervention.”

“Mr. Benson, you have no right to determine what’s best for Merry.”

“Nor do you, sir.  You were Merry’s mother’s lawyer, not Merry’s.  She needs to find someone she feels comfortable with to look after her interests, and quite frankly, I doubt very much if it’s going to be you.  If you will excuse us, we need to get the Blackstones delivered to the airport.  We’ll be looking forward to hearing from you.  Good night, sir.”

I turned to Doctor Blackstone, “Sir, I’m curious as to how you knew about Merry’s mother’s death, if you haven't been in contact with them for over fifteen years?”

Doctor Blackstone started to laugh.  “Our cook is related to Consuela, and she filled me in on the details of what happened, and the police called to see if I had any idea where Merry was.  Of course, I didn’t.”

I shook my head, “This mess gets weirder and weirder.  Let me go get Tiny Tim and Meredith.  Dad and Mother, Tanner and I will drive the Blackstones to their hotel.  You people need to finish your packing.  We have Timmy’s and our things packed.  Merry, do you want to go with us?”

“I’d like to, but I need to finish packing.”

When I returned with Tiny Tim and Meredith, Timmy and Tanner were carrying the few clothes that the twins had.  Timmy announced, I’ll stay here and make sure that Derek and Lauren don’t get in any trouble.”

As we were leaving, Mrs. Blackstone looked at Mother, “Becca, monitor the medications that the three girls are taking, very closely.  Morgan should be about ready to switch to a lower dosage, and I really think that you need to have Lauren reevaluated as soon as you get home.  Merry, I want you to cut down on your dosages as much as you can.  You can’t quit cold turkey, or that would disrupt your ability to function.  Just step back a little at a time.  I want you to see a competent person who will recognize what has been happening.  The same goes for Lauren.  I’ll send you a list of people whom you might want to consult.”

Meredith asked, “Mother and Dad, is Merry going to come live with us, so we don’t have to have another nanny?”

Mr. Blackstone shrugged his shoulders, “She certainly is welcomed to come live with us, but she wouldn’t be a nanny.”

The ride to the airport was relatively quiet and the Blackstones thanked us profusely for taking care of Timothy and Meredith.  As they were getting out of the car, Tiny Tim asked, “Can you bring Timmy to see us, sometime?”

I hugged the two children, “I’m sure that you will be seeing Timmy again.  Have a good trip home.”

Tanner had a slew of questions about what was happening as we were driving home.  As we were pulling into the garage, he commented, “I guess there aren’t any truly functional families, anymore.”

“Tanner, why do say that?  What’s wrong with the Benson family?”

Tanner giggled, “After last night, how can you call us part of a functional family.”

I stopped to think how to respond, “Who’s to say that what we did isn’t functional.  Just think, we could be out spreading our oats and creating unwanted children.  Is what happened last night bothering you?”

“Only, the fact that I may have caused you to do something that you might not have wanted to really do.”

“Dear Tanner, you should know me well enough to know that I don’t very often do things that I don’t want to do.  I guess we won’t be able play more games, tonight.  Tomorrow is going to come pretty darn early.  I wonder if Noreen brought her things over tonight, or if she's going to wait until morning?”

When we walked into the house, we could hardly get through the entryway because of all of the luggage that was sitting there.  I thought to myself, ‘This is certainly going to slow down the carriage.’

Tanner asked, “What was in the box that arrived today?”

It was a potion that we need to give the people who have not been exposed to our way of travel. That includes Lauren as well as Derek, John, Robbie, Ron and Doreen.”

Tanner scowled, “I’m surprised that Doreen is going with us.  How is she going to fit in?”

“Ricky sent me an email asking if we could bring her.  I was surprised when she said she would like to go.”

The house was jumping when Timmy woke Tanner and me in the morning.  We barely had time to eat breakfast before people started to arrive.  Timmy and I fixed the potion and handed everyone what looked like a pill but was in essence a sugar pill and handed the appropriate people a glass with the potion while the rest of us were having plain water.”

A very large carriage arrived with Jaime and Shamus in the driver’s seats. We made quick work of loading the luggage and got the uninitiated in the carriage first, while Dad secured the house.

As soon as we were all loaded, I noticed that the number of horses had been increased, so there was no change in the amount of time we were in the air.  We landed near the airport in a wooded area and we were soon joined by the carriages from Ithaca and the one from England.  Rafael was in charge of the carriage from Ithaca and Uncle Jack was on board the carriage from England.”

We were met by Ricky and Justin, who were driving the bus that had the name of Chalet La Fontaine on it.  Once we had everyone settled and the bus started to move, I awoke the unsuspecting.  “Ladies and Gentlemen, we have arrived in Zurich.  I believe you all know the driver of the bus, except for Merry and Jack.  Have the three visitors from Paris arrived yet?”

Justin answered.  “Not yet, Louie called and said they would be arriving about the same time as you were to arrive and we need to stop at the train station and pick them up.”

The three guys were waiting when we arrived at the train station, and once their luggage was in place and the introductions were made, we started up the hill to the chalet. Everyone was wowed who hadn’t been there before.  We were met by the staff and they unloaded the bus.  Fortunately, I had sent the room assignments ahead so the people could get settled as quickly as possible. 

I had changed Tanner’s roommate from Ron to Louie.  When I announced that room assignment, Tanner sent me a message.  “I thought we would be rooming together?”

I sent back a message, “I’m sending up a smoke screen.  We’ll be able to find time to be alone.” 

John and Derek were to be in the adjoining room.  I put Jack and Ron in the room that adjoined Ben and Grant.  I wanted Timmy and Antoine close to my room, so that meant I was sharing a suite with Mick.”

Vicky and Morgan had the room next Kate and Gwen.  Lauren and Merry were sharing a bath with Robbie and Doreen.  That meant Maria and Inga didn’t have suite mates yet.

Uncle Archie announced, “We’ll meet you in the apparel shop to get everyone suitably clothed for skiing, immediately after lunch.”

We were ready when the intercom announced, “The dining room is now open.  Please proceed to get your gruel for the day.”

We walked into the dining area and there was a nice smorgasbord of food awaiting us.  The tables were equipped to handle eight people and there was no rhyme or reason as to how we were seated.  Vicky was next to me and then it was Louie and Merry.  Timmy and Antoine were across from Vicky and me and Mother and Dad were sitting with us.  After we had our lunch, we took our trays to the window and handed them to the young people working in the kitchen.  As we were walking to the apparel shop, Dad whispered, “Brian, I’m surprised that you’re not rooming with Tanner?”

I was almost speechless, “Dad, why would you think that would be the case?”

“Brian, don’t try to b. s., your Mother and me.  We noticed a change in your demeanor, the other morning.”

“Dad, that’s why we’re not rooming together, we don’t need the world to know what’s happening.”

Dad wasn’t done, “What happened to Tanner and Ron?”

“Dad, Ron wanted to do more than Tanner was ready to do.  Tanner realized he didn’t like Ron as more than a friend.”

Timmy and Antoine had their gear, and were all ready to go skiing.  Uncle Archie and Uncle Will recognized that the guys were eager to go skiing.  Uncle Will announced, “Before anyone goes skiing, we will need to have a safety briefing in the lodge.  This is especially true of you who have never been skiing or have limited skiing experience.  It is very important that you all attend, because we have some very strict guidelines here at Chalet Lafontaine.” 

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  Well, finally, we have arrived at the Chalet.  I think things are going to get pretty hectic for some time. 

It will be very interesting to see how well the new people do at skiing.  

I don't think that Beau and Becca are going to be the only ones who notice the difference in the relationship between Brian and Tanner.

I am also quite certain that there won't be anyone who will object.

Almost everyone had already seen the love that Tanner had for Brian, and I also believe that even though Brian hadn't figured it out for himself yet, he really does love Tanner and has since they first met. 

I think that Merry will eventually work out her problems with her father, and that she will most likely decide to move in with the Blackstone family.  I am sure that Dr. Blackstone will love her, and that once she knows that her mother was telling her things to make her dislike her father, she will accept him fully into her life. 

I also suspect that the two Doctors will be having a long productive talk with Tiny Tim and Meredith, and they will curtail their work hours to a point where they can spend more time together as a family.  Perhaps the two of them can figure out how to arrange their schedules so that at least one of them can be with the twins, so they won't need to hire another nanny.  Maybe they should look into finding a nice Nano, instead. 

It is amazing to see just how much love can cure a world of hurting.

Children do seem to possess a faculty for forgiveness, when they can see that the people who have hurt them are truly sorry.

I wonder how many people Brian, Timmy and Tanner will have to rescue while they are on their trip.  I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to find out that there are some children in need of their help, in one way or another.  Grandpa Nappy will most likely see to it that if any exist, that our boys will find them, and come to the rescue.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 12/10/10