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

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Chapter 50

Down The Hill We Go

A moan went up when Uncle Archie announced that there would be a safety briefing, especially from those skiers who had little or limited skiing experience.  Timmy stood, “I own this resort, and if Uncle Archie says we need to go to a safety lesson, then let’s go and do it so those of us who don’t know how to ski can learn to do it right.”

During the safety instruction, it became readily apparent that we had three levels of skiers.   Inga, Michaud, Jack, Louie, Ron and Derek were in the proficient group.  At least we had a good group of people to help us who were not so good.

In the intermediate group were my family, except for Timmy, Tanner and Grant  None of them had ever been on skis before.  Antoine was a very creditable skier, and I picked up that Timmy was determined to be a better skier than Toine. 

John, Doreen, Robbie, Kate, Gwen and Vicky had only limited experience on the slopes, and Marie had never skied before.

After an hour of instruction, we were released to go skiing.  The groups dispersed to three areas to work with instructors.  I watched as the proficient group went skiing down the hill. Inga was by far the most fluid skier.  We were to find out that she had practically grown up on skies. 

I took a couple runs down the intermediate slope and decided to go check on Timmy and the others at the beginners’ slope.  When I arrived at the beginners’ slope, I heard Timmy ask, “Can, I try the next size slope?  I promise, I won’t try to go too fast.”

The instructor looked at me, “That’s up to your brother.  I think you’ll be fine, if you don’t try to go to fast.  It’s quite a bit steeper than this one.  By tomorrow, I guess almost everyone will be ready for the intermediate slope.”

Timmy looked at me, “Can I?”

I decided to tease him, “Can  you what?  If you need to go to the bathroom, go over behind the trees and I'll stand here and throw snowballs at anyone who tries to peek.”

Timmy pouted, “Brian, be serious.  Can I try the intermediate slope, please?”

I looked at the instructor and he nodded in the affirmative.  I answered, “Okay, but no hot dogging.  I’ll go down with you the first time.  The intermediate hill isn’t as easy as it looks.  There are some unexpected twists and turns.”

Heck, Timmy made me look like a novice, as we were going down the hill.  He was so smooth that the instructor who was on duty came to me when we reached the bottom of the hill, “That kid is a natural.  He has the ability of being a very good skier.”

I grinned, “That’s probably the reason he owns the Chalet Lafontaine.”

The young instructor laughed, “Open mouth and put foot in.  Guess I’ll need to pay more attention to what’s happening around here.  I knew the owner was going to be here this week, but I assumed it would be someone a little older.   Perhaps, he would like to have some private lessons.”

“I’ll ask my brother and see if he would like some special lessons?

 

The look on the instructors face was priceless, “I think I’d better shut my mouth and keep it shut.  It would be nice if they introduced us to the guests, so we non-knowing people would know who the players are.”

“I’ll tell Uncle Archie and Uncle Will what you recommended.  We don’t expect any special favors.  We are, after all, here to make money, so it’s important that the paying guests receive only the best possible  treatment.  We can take care of ourselves.  It’s not everyday that the owner and twenty three guests descend on the resort.”

“Timmy, Alfredo wants to know if you would like some private lessons?”

“Sure, can Antoine go with us.  He doesn’t really need them, but it’s fun to have someone my age around.  When can we go?”

Alfredo grinned, “I’m ready anytime you are.  We have about forty minutes before it gets too dark.  I’ll meet you at the lift as soon as I can get a replacement here to watch the hill.”

Needless to say, we were the last people off the slopes.  In fact everyone was already going through the serving lines when we finally arrived at the chalet.  Timmy was exhilarated and went to talk to Dad and Mother and the people at their table to tell them how much fun he was having. 

We were finally seated at a table with Ben, Grant, Inga and Maria when Uncle Will came to the table, he said, “Timmy, Brian, Inga and Maria, we need two more beds for two young ladies from Belgium who arrived unexpectedly, today.  Their reservation were for tomorrow.”

Timmy answered, “Uncle Will, I’m sure that Inga and Maria wouldn’t mind sharing their bathroom with the two young ladies.  Could we meet them to make sure, before we say they can stay in the empty room.  How old are they, anyway?”

 

Uncle Will shrugged his shoulders, “Timmy, I would guess that the older sister, Gretchen, is seventeen or eighteen and the younger sister Kristina is about fifteen.  I’ll go get them and you can visit while you eat.”

I scrunched on the same side of the table where Timmy and Antoine were seated, so there would be room for the two new guests to sit.  Uncle Will escorted them to the table and introduced them.  Gretchen apologized, “Sorry to intrude, but today was the only day we could get here until next week.  Something got screwed up with our reservations.”

Timmy smiled, “It’s not going to be a problem.  We have an empty room that shares a bathroom with Inga and Maria.  We have a a rule in our group; if you make a mess, you need to clean it up.  Are you good skiers?”

Kristina shook her head, no, “I don’t think we would qualify as good skiers.  We’re better ice skaters than skiers since we don’t have any mountains near our home.”

Timmy giggled, “Good, you and our sister Morgan will have something to talk about..  She loves to ice skate.”

Gretchen asked the obvious question.  “Why is everyone having a young boy make the decisions?  Shouldn’t they be asking the owner or manager?”

Ben grinned, “Timmy just happens to be the owner of the Chalet, so why shouldn’t he be able to make the decisions.”

Gretchen turned bright red, “I can’t seem to do anything right, lately.  Timmy, I’m sorry if I embarrassed you.”

Timmy wrinkled his nose, “I’m not embarrassed.  Just plan to have a good time.  There are lots of people in our group who are old, like you, and, Kristina, there are some more who are your age.  You should have a good time.”

After dinner, everyone congregated in the great room which had a roaring fireplace.  There were a group of local musicians and dancers performing in the open area.  There were groups of people sitting around talking and some of the younger people were playing games.  I looked around and decided that I wanted to do some painting, so I went to get my easel and my oils.

As I was returning to the great room, I was met by Dad, “Brian, are you feeling okay?  You don’t seem to be your peppy go get ‘em self.”

“Dad, I feel fine.  How do you want me to act?  Remember, I’m not the host, here.  This is Timmy’s house.”

Dad shook his head, “It’s as if you’re ignoring everyone but Timmy and Antoine.”

“Dad, that’s ridiculous.  I haven’t been ignoring anyone.  If people wish to talk to me or ask me a question, then they can come talk to me.  Remember, skiing is not my forte even though I’m having a blast.  Just watching Timmy progress is fun in itself.”

“Brian, all I’m saying is that you shouldn’t spend all your time with Timmy.  Take time to be a normal teenager and kick up your heels.”

“Dad, after what has happened to me since this summer, I don’t think I could ever be called a normal teenager.  I’ll try to act like a normal teenager, as you call it, but I’m almost beginning to regret that we came on this trip.  It appears that everyone expects me to act like the tour guide and make sure they have a good time.”

Dad hugged me, “Brian, it sounds to me as if you need to get a good solid night’s rest, as do we all.  We packed a lot into day one of our vacation.  Go relax with your art supplies and let’s see what happens tomorrow.”

I set up my art supplies and started to draw in the outlines of the group where Tanner and Vicky were playing games.  I suddenly realized that every time I looked at either of them, they seemed to be looking at me with questioning looks in their eyes.  I was getting ready to stop working on the painting when Timmy came up to me, “Brian, Antoine and I are pretty tired.  We’re going to bed.  Are we going running in the morning?”

 

“I’m getting tired, too.  Why don’t you check with Tanner and John and the others, to see if they want to go running in the morning if the weather is nice enough.  I need to say goodnight to Vicky.”

I went to where Vicky was sitting and sat down beside her.  Her welcoming comment hurt, “So nice of you to join us, Lord Brian.”

I was caught almost speechless, “I’m sorry if you feel I’ve been ignoring you.  I assumed that you were old enough to take care of yourself, and you seemed to be having a good time when I saw you.”

“Brian, be sensible.  You know and I know that there can not be anything more than friendship between the two of us.  We live in entirely different worlds.  I began to realize nothing would ever happen between us when I attended your homecoming dance.  In fact, I almost didn’t come on this trip, but my parents convinced me that I should come and talk to you in person.”

“Thank you for being honest.  I’ve just about concluded that I don’t have any idea what love is.  I’ve decided that there are many kinds of love.  Liking someone a lot doesn’t necessarily mean love.  The feelings I have for my family are a different kind of love than what I feel for others.  There is a big difference between love and compassion.  Heck, I’ll probably wind up an old man and never really know what real love is.”

As I was dropping Vicky off at her dorm room, she hugged me, “Brian, you’ll probably know real love sooner than most of us.  Don’t force it or it won’t work.  Remember, you have Monsieur Lafontaine watching over you.  My father says that Monsieur Lafontaine has given you special powers, but he wouldn’t tell me what those powers were.”

Vicky kissed me on the cheek, “Goodnight, chosen one.”

As I was walking across the great room to the male dormitories, Tanner approached me, “Brian, are you angry with me?  It’s as if you have been totally ignoring me.”

“Tanner, you’re the second person in the last thirty minutes who has accused me of ignoring them.  I haven’t been ignoring anyone, certainly not deliberately, but I can’t be everywhere at once.”

“Brian, ever since the night I told you I thought I loved you, you have been very elusive.  It’s as if you aren’t sure that you’re ready to return that love in the way I want.”

“Tanner, I love you, like I do Ben, Grant, Lauren, Morgan and Timmy.  I’m not sure that I’m ready to love you any differently.  I know that’s not what you want to hear, but that’s the way it is.  I’m not sure that I’m ever going to be capable of loving like you would want me to.”

“I should’ve realized that you didn’t love me like I love you.”

“Tanner, you’ll find the right person to love.  You and I need to keep our relationship on a family level in order to be able to do the awesome tasks that Grandpa Nappy passed on to us.  If we were to have marital problems, so to speak, we might not be able to accomplish what it is that Grandpa Nappy wants us to do.  When and if, we find real love, I'm guessing that it won’t be someone in the world of wizardry.”

Tanner’s arms were slouched, “I guess you’re right.”

“Tanner, things will work out when the time is right.”

When I went into the bedroom, Michaud was almost asleep, “Brian, I’m really tired.  Timmy said to tell you that Merry is going to go running with you guys, and everyone who wants to go is going to be in the great room at seven o’clock.”

I took a quick shower and was lying there trying to figure out what I was doing that was upsetting everyone.  I heard a voice,

“Brian, relax.  Things will work out.  Everyone has come to expect you to be able to take care of everything.  They need to stop and consider that you do have feelings and needs, too.  Get some sleep.  There are going to be some unique situations in the next couple of days and you will need to be able to react properly.”

I finally fell asleep about eleven and thank goodness, I did remember to set the alarm because I was the last person to arrive in the great room.  All the guys except Ron, Jack, Michaud and Antoine were there with Merry.  I was surprised that Richey was there as well.  It’s a good thing he was, because he was to only person who knew the best route for us to take.

When we arrived back at chalet, the smell of breakfast permeated the entire chalet.  Needless to say, no one said no to a hot breakfast.  We were the first people through the serving line and were chowing down when the rest of the Fremont entourage and friends made their appearances.

As we were finishing breakfast, Uncle Archie stood to make the announcements for the day.  “The ski slopes and lifts will be open from nine this morning until four thirty this afternoon.”

A voice called out, “Why can’t we go skiing now.  It’s a bright sunny day.”

Uncle Archie answered, “It may be bright and sunny here at the chalet, but we have been advised that there are dense patches of fog along all the main trails.  If it anyone were to try to go skiing before the instructors and maintenance people are in place, they would be doing so at their own risk.  We have posted the skiing hours from nine until four thirty and that’s what we’ll be liable for.  The technicians who are working the slopes and equipment need some time off for lunch and other things.”

The same smart kid yelled, “Hire some more help.  We didn’t come all the way to Switzerland to sit on our asses.”

Timmy went and stood beside Uncle Archie, “Sir, if you're not happy with the facilities here at Chalet Lafontaine, we’ll gladly provide you a ride to town so you can make arrangements to stay where you might be happier.”

“Who the hell do you think you are to be talking to me like that?”

Timmy glared, “I’m the owner of Chalet Lafontaine, and we follow the rules that Uncle Will and Uncle Archie establish.”

There was a quiet hush over the dining room.  An older man stood, “Robert, sit down; you’re making a fool of yourself.”

The woman next to the man punched him, “Randy, the service here at this chalet certainly has gone down hill.  We requested that we be lodged in the owner’s suite as we have been for the past five years.  What did we get for accommodations?  A basic room.  Whom do I see about getting the problems fixed?”

Will stood, “Mrs. Rosenberry, the owner’s parents are occupying the owner’s suite, and furthermore, we didn’t receive your request for the room, until the day before Christmas.  As it was, we had to rearrange some reservations to even fit you and your family in at all.”

The woman turned to her husband, “Randy, can’t you do anything right.  Get on the phone; I want the best accommodations that are available in Zurich.  Imagine a little snot owning a chalet like this.  No wonder it’s going down hill.”

I had all the bad mouthing I could take.  “Justin, would you please pull the La Chalet Fontaine bus around, so you can take the Rosenberry family to find other accommodations?  It’s apparent they aren’t happy here.” 

To be continued...

Editor's Notes: It certainly was a nice surprise to find a new chapter of this wonderful story in my in box, this morning.

Poor Brian seems to be destined to take responsibilities and perform miracles, and I am not talking about magic, either.

Having said that, I must admit that he does seem to take criticism a bit more seriously than perhaps he should.

It certainly will be interesting to see just what Grandpa Nappy was talking about when he said there will be things that need to be concerned about.

We might find out in the next exciting chapter. Grin

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 12/17/10