The Fremont Saga
by: E Walk
(© 2009-2011 by the Author)
 

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

Chapter 51

Not So Fast

Uncle Will went to the front of the room, “Everyone slow down.  Mr. and Mrs. Rosenberry, we’re sorry that you find the accommodations not to your liking.  Before we take you to find other accommodations, I suggest that you make some calls to see if there is anything available that might meet your needs.”

“The last I heard, almost all the lodging facilities were completely booked because of the figure skating competition that is going to be held this week.  The local people are even renting rooms in their homes, for premium prices.”

Mrs. Rosenberry stood and gestured, “You’re just saying that so we won’t create a vacancy that you can charge outrageous prices for.”

Mr. Rosenberry pulled his wife down to her seat, “Lorna, let me go check and see if there are any other accommodations available.”

The conversation was interrupted by one of the staff, “Monsieur Larceveque, the president of the visitor’s bureau is on the phone wanting to know if we have, or will have, any vacancies for the rest of the week.  They need to find rooms for some of the competitors who are entered in the skating competition.”

Kristina leaned over, “This is one of the premier competitions of the year.  Some of the biggest names in skating are going to be here.  That’s one of the reasons why I asked for tickets, for my Christmas present.  I’m glad we found a place to sleep if the town is so busy.”

Uncle Archie answered the young man, “Tell Mr. Leder that we are completely full, as of now, but we’ll advise him should we have any vacancies become available.”

I saw the Rosenberrys whispering; Mrs. Rosenberry announced, “We’ve decided that we’ll stay, since it would be an inconvenience for someone to take us to town.  Perhaps you would consider giving us a discount, since we were led to believe that we would be housed in the owner’s suite.”

Uncle Archie shook his head no, “Mrs. Rosenberry, your confirmation notice said nothing about you having the owner’s suite.  In fact, it said that you would be housed in the best available accommodations.  The best available rooms were in the dorm section.  You were lucky that we were able to house you and your two sons in adjoining rooms.”

The younger of the sons made a comment, “Gees, thanks a lot; as if we don’t get enough of them back home.”

As we were walking to our rooms to get dressed for the slopes, John frowned, “I don’t think I like the Rosenberry family very much.  They’ll probably ruin this vacation for everyone here.”

Timmy muttered, “Nah un, we’ll just pretend that they’re not here and make them eat by themselves if they can’t be nice.”

When the horn announced that the slopes and lifts were open, the two Rosenberry boys pushed to the front of the line for the lift for the master’s slope.  We stood and watched as Robert, who was the older of the two sons, came out of the gate.  He had only gone about twenty yards before he fell and started to tumble head over heels down the slope until he collided with a tree.

Timmy looked up at me, “Brian, what can we do to help?  I think that the man is hurt.”

“Timmy, the best thing that we can do is stay out of the way.  The chalet has medical people on the staff who will take care of him.”

It was only a couple of minutes before a helicopter arrived with a team of para-medics.  They loaded Robert onto the copter and took off toward the chalet.

We watched the gate to see who would be coming out next.  We saw the younger Rosenberry son sitting on the lift as it descended toward the chalet.  The next person who exited the gate was a lady and we watched as she descended down the trail without any problem.  I looked at the group of people around us, “I can hear it now.  The Rosenberrys are going to say that it was the chalet’s fault that Robert had the accident.”

A gentleman guest who was standing with us grinned, “There are enough people here who saw what happened and can refute such an accusation.  I’m wondering if the young man was even cleared for the master’s slope?”

After two hours of skiing, we made our way back to the lodge to chill out before lunch.  Our group made it through the morning without any major catastrophes.  Robert, however, was not going to be doing much skiing for several days.  He had a severely sprained ankle and was on crutches.  We ignored him as he was berating the lodge and the employees. 

When we were seated and eating, the gentleman who had been standing with us watching Robert’s accident stood, “Robert, what happened to you was your own fault.  I skied that slope all morning as did many other people and none of us had any problems.  I doubt very much if you have the expertise to be on the master slope, or you would have been able to stop yourself before you collided with that tree.”

Mrs. Rosenberry pounded the table, “What was he doing on the master slope?  This is the first time he’s been skiing since last year.  The resort should have stopped him from being on the master slope.  We‘ll sue the lodge for damages.”

The lady who skied the slope, after Robert had tried, spoke up, “Mrs. Rosenberry, your two sons pushed in front of us at the lift.  Your sons were on the lift practically before it started.  I hate to say this, but you have two very rude and disrespectful sons and I’m beginning to understand why.  We came here for a vacation; we didn’t come here to listen to you and your family complain.”

Mrs. Rosenberry stood, “Come on, guys, we’ll eat in our room, since everyone here is apparently blind.”

Timmy looked at me with a twinkle, “I hope you brought your food with you.  We don’t have enough helpers to take people food in their rooms or bring the dirty dishes back to the kitchen area.  Any extra work you cause will be added to your account.”

The people in attendance applauded.  I leaned down and whispered, “Timmy, why did you say that?”

“Grandpa Nappy told me to say it.  He doesn’t like those people very much.”

I decided to let the subject drop. 

We made it through the afternoon of skiing without any casualties, well almost.  Tanner was hot dogging on the way back to the lodge and sprained his ankle.  It wasn’t a bad sprain, but he wouldn’t be skiing the next day.

When we assembled for the evening meal, it was apparent that people were choosing not to sit with the Rosenberrys.  They had a table for eight to themselves causing several of the tables to be overcrowded. 

After dinner, I got my paintings and Kristina was watching what I was doing.   She asked, “Brian, have you ever had your work on display?”

“A few pieces have been on display at the Johnson Gallery in London.  Why do you ask?”

“I thought so.  We went to see your showing, and you have your own distinct style.  Your people are so lifelike.” 

The rest of the evening was quiet with most people retiring early, since it was lightly snowing.  Robert and Richard Rosenberry kept complaining that there was nothing to do.

I was awakened the next morning by Timmy, “Brian, are we going running?”

“If no one else is running, I’ll go for a short run with you.  We need to save our strength for skiing.”

When we arrived in the great room. Ben, Grant, Derek, Merry and Kristina were waiting for us. Everyone else had decided to sleep in.  I looked at Kristina, “I’m surprised to see you up and about at this hour.”

“For your information, I run almost every morning, in Holland.  It helps me keep in shape for my skating and especially helps with controlling  breathing.”

When we exited the chalet, we were met by a wall of white.  I looked at the assembled people, “I don’t think we’ll be running this morning.  We wouldn’t be able to see anyone else because it’s snowing so hard and the wind is whipping the snow around.  We’ll be lucky to get any skiing done, today.”

Kristina put here finger to her lips motioning for us to be quiet, “Listen, someone is calling for help.”

Timmy nodded, “It sounds like children.”

I listened and heard the sounds, “Timmy, go get Tanner and tell him know we need his help.  Ben, go ask the staff if they have some flares.  Someone is stranded out there.  I’ll go see if I can find them.  Everyone else, stay here and get ready to respond to the flares.”

I walked into the worst of the storm before I made myself invisible and was floating toward where the cries for help were emanating from.  I heard some voices reminding me that I needed to be careful.  I recognized Timmy’s, Tanner’s, Ben’s and Grant’s but there was a feminine voice that surprised me.  Katrina’s voice was mixed in with the four male voices.

As I approached the pleading voices, I saw a car in a ditch along the side of the road.  I made myself visible as I approached the car.  I knocked on the window to let the occupants know that I was there.  I lit the first flare and sent it into the air, “Did anyone see the flare?”

Katrina’s voice answered, “We saw the flare.  It was very faint.  Let’s hope we get to you before the flares run out.”

“There is a car with a woman and two children inside.  Ben and Grant, I think you could carry the two children to the lodge but we need some help getting the lady there.  I’ll keep sending up flares to guide the rescue team to the location.  Someone needs to stay and be able to direct the rescue from the lodge area.  Kristina, can you hear me?”

“Yes.  What do you want me to do?”

“How many of you can hear Kristina?”

Affirmative answers were received from Ben, Grant, Tanner and Timmy.  “Good.  Kristina, you, Tanner and Timmy are the command center.  Be ready to help the people when then they arrive.”

The next thing I knew, Ben was beside me.  “Grant is directing the rescue team, here.  He and I are acting as if we have a communication system in our watches.”

Between the flares and the make believe communications system, a rescue team finally reached the site of the car.  The three occupants of the car were bundled on stretchers headed for the chalet.  I had Tanner and Kristina sending up flares to show us the way.  It was taking longer than if I could have led the rescue party on my own.

When the three rescued people had been treated for frost bite, they were applauded when they entered the dining hall.  The lady nodded, “I want to thank all of you who participated in the rescue.  You can’t imagine how relieved I was when I saw Brian arrive.  I had just about given up hope.  I still don’t understand how he was able to locate us.  It was as if the blizzard appeared out of nowhere.”

Uncle Will diverted everyone’s attention, “We have just received word from the weather station that the storm is expected to continue through the day, at the higher elevations.  They’ve advised all of the skiing facilities in the area to remain closed the remainder of the day.”

“The highway department says they will have the roads to the city cleared by ten o’clock.  We will have two buses leaving for the city.  The first bus will be leaving at ten o’clock and will take those who want to see the sites of Zurich, or go shopping.  A second bus will take those of you who would like to ice skate to the Palladium at 11:00.   There is open skating from noon until two, at which time the ice is reserved for the competitors to practice for the show.  The big names in ice skating are scheduled to attend.”

Kristina was sitting at breakfast  with Tanner. Timmy, Grant, Ben and me.  I asked,  “Kristina, how long have you been able to hear what people are saying even though they aren’t talking out loud?”

“Guys, today was the first time that ever happened.  Great Uncle  Napoleon indicated last August that I would be meeting some very important wizards, later this year.  Uncle Napoleon was insistent that Gretchen and I attend the skating competition here in Zurich  this week.  Now, I guess we know why.  I was supposed to meet you.”

“Does Gretchen have any idea what is happening?”

“She hasn’t a clue, as far as I know.  You didn’t see her out helping this morning, did you?  Do your sisters know and have the special powers?”

Timmy answered, “Morgan sorta knows that we have special powers, but she doesn’t know everything. Lauren hasn’t any idea what’s happening.”

Needless to say, all of the adults and older teenage females, like Lauren, opted for the site seeing, or should I say, the shopping option.  That meant their boyfriends were obligated to also take that option.  When the first bus pulled away from the chalet, it was jam packed.  I was relieved that the Rosenberrys were on it.  Because of Tanner’s ankle, he and John took that option as well, so Tanner wouldn’t have to walk on his ankle if he chose not to.

When the second bus left for the Palladium, there were only ten of us on board.  There was a neat military family of four.  Major Walters was stationed at an air force base in Germany.  Their two sons were between the ages of Timmy and Morgan. 

Of course Antoine and Michaud went wherever Timmy and Morgan went.  As we were riding, Kristina told us that she might be able to give us some pointers on skating.

Timmy was the only one of our people who had never ice skated before, but it sure didn’t take him long to catch on and he was able to keep up, with ease.  I think Kristina was surprised at how good Morgan was. Morgan had taken to skating lessons ever since she was about six.  Dad and Mother had tried to make sure she had every opportunity to skate, therefore, she was quite good.

Once I was sure that Timmy was going to be okay on his own, Kristina and I began to skate.  It was a weird feeling being able to communicate with her without talking.  At some point in time when we were skating, we began to do some more advanced figures and at one point, people were applauding what we were doing.  I was so embarrassed that I suggested that we stop and grab some lunch.

After Timmy inhaled his lunch, he belched as he started to speak, “Brian and Morgan, let’s show these people what the Benson family can do.” 

His voice, which was unheard except by Morgan and me, told us what he thought we should do.  It turned out to be a comedy routine and everyone in the arena was standing watching.  When we stopped, the other people in the arena applauded.

Timmy took off with Antoine and some younger people and Kristina and I were skating as a pair when the manager came up to us, “This skating period is for paying guests.  The competitors aren’t to be here until two o’clock for practice.”

I must have frowned, “Sir, we aren’t entered in the competition.  We’re here because of the weather around Chalet Lafontaine.”

“I beg your pardon.  You look more professional than some of the competitors.  Let me give you some free passes for you to use while you’re here.  That young boy and the young lady you were skating with earlier are very good, too.”

“That was my sister, Morgan and my brother, Timmy.”

Timmy interrupted, “Come on, we have to go.  Justin is here to pick us up.  Thanks for letting us skate.  We had a great time.”     

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  Well, that was quite interesting. It seems we have another Wizard in attendance.  Brian seems to be getting along quite nicely with her.

It will be very interesting to see just what happens to the Rosenberrys.  Hopefully it will be something rather nasty.  I think they are even snottier than Lauren was before she began to take her meds.

I think the two snotty boys need an attitude adjustment.

I can hardly wait for the next chapter, to see what will happen next.

Darryl The Radio Rancher

Posted: 12/31/10