13 - The Tractor

It was nearing two in the morning when the two finally called it quits. They'd caught and cleaned only eight of the fish that was the purpose of this trip, but the two hand laughed and reminisced about stupid stunts from their childhood.

"Alright man, I'll see you tomorrow night at the bar," Lucas waved as Brett climbed into the cab, Brett waved and drove home.

Light flickered through the curtains in the windows of the front room: he wondered if Ned was having a hard time sleeping like he sometimes did. Brett parked and entered the house quietly, not wanting to disturb his uncle if the man had fallen asleep: he was surprised by the silence that greeted him and moved to the living room to check in on his uncle. He was brought up short by the sight of Maisey wrapped up in a blanket on the couch with headphones on: he recognized Bilbo Baggins on the screen. He didn't distract her but went to bed, he was already going to be tired enough in the morning.

Maisey nibbled on stale candy she'd found in her bags as she watched the movie: it was a long time favorite but she couldn't remember the last time she'd been able to watch it. She'd been glad to find that Brett wasn't so much unlike most guys his age and had an up to date TV with the ability to run wireless headphones from the TV, it made is so she wasn't worried about keeping Ned up. She'd dragged the blanket off her bed and a skein of yarn and made herself comfortable. She'd had to give up on the crocheting when her hands got stiff, but she'd gotten a good start on a simple blanket. She hadn't tried it since her hands had healed so she knew she needed to be careful.

She'd seen the lights from Brett's truck, but ignored his presence in the doorway when he'd checked in on her, pretending she didn't notice him. She was relieved he was home: he hadn't said a word when he'd left, just gone. She remembered his earlier comments about the fact that he was rarely home and realized she might have to get used to being alone in the evenings since she wasn't willing to go into town to make friends, not yet. She found herself wondering where he'd gone and chastising herself because it wasn't her business. Addie came to her mind along with at least three other women that had stopped them at the grocery store: she wondered if he had been dating any of them before she came along. She fell asleep long before the Hobbit was over.

Ned motioned him to be quiet when Brett got up the next morning and indicated the sleeping girl on the couch, "She paced until 10 in her room and then must have fallen asleep on the couch," Ned whispered, "Never seen her sleep past 5 since she woke up from that coma."

Brett nodded and fixed himself some porridge. He didn't ask about the pacing, telling himself he needed to separate himself from her more and get on with his life: she was his friend, almost a sister like Anna. He nearly choked on a bite of banana at the thought. A sister indeed. He got ready and left the house with Ned, they had work to do, Lucas was right about one thing: it was hard to keep up when it was just him and Ned.

Maisey was humming in the garden area when they came in for lunch, "There's baked potato soup and fresh bread," she called out, "with apple pie for desert." She didn't join them, but dirty dishes on the counter showed that she'd already eaten. From the looks of the pile of plants next to the fence she'd been working for a while. Ned smiled absently and Brett wondered what he'd missed the night before.

While the men were in the house Maisey went out to the shed to find something to put the weeds in. The pile she was making would only grow and she wondered with it being a farm if there was some kind of compost pile she should be lugging them to. She found a wheelbarrow but the tire was flat. Absorbed as she was in searching for a pump of some kind she didn't notice Brett until she turned around, she let out a scream and then when she realized who it was standing with their arms folded against the doorframe she laughed and apologized.

"Looking for something in particular?" he asked.

"A pump," she pointed at the wheelbarrow, "it's got a flat and I need to move the pile of weeds to wherever you put weeds."

"We either feed them to the cows or burn them, depending on what they are," he told her, "but we usually move things like that with the dump trailer: more efficient." He pointed outside. Maisey moved so she could see what he was pointing at.

"But that attaches to a tractor!"

"A quad or a tractor, yes," Brett nodded, "Keys are hanging in the box above the lights in there, I'll hook it up and then you can drive it over when you're ready." He didn't wait for her to respond, he ducked around the corner and went to work. Maisey just stared after him, "I'll be gone again tonight, since you promised Addie I would go play pool, is there anything you need me to pick up for tomorrow's picnic where we're chaperoning Lucas and Anna?"

"No," Maisey told him, "Anna's going to come over here and make a mess of Ned's kitchen, she will bring everything we need." She wanted to tell him she'd never driven a quad before but he didn't give her a chance, nodding and walking away before she could think how. Time to learn, she told herself and hoped it wasn't hard.

She stared at the controls and then back at her cell phone screen for about the twentieth time. With a sigh she straddled the machine, squeezed the throttle like the internet told her to and pushed the button that was supposed to start the quad. She grinned when it worked and let go of the throttle in her excitement. The quad died. Biting her tongue between her teeth Maisey did it again and was pleased when it started. Slowly she released the emergency brake and turned the grip to try and move forward. She was surprised enough when it lurched that she dropped the throttle again.

Frustrated now, Maisey put the emergency brake back on and tried again, this time she didn't let go. Slowly the quad moved forward. Encouraged Maisey turned it harder so she would go faster and was pleasantly surprised by how smooth it was. She drove straight and then turned slowly so she didn't jack knife or hit anything and then was pleased she could straighten out and drive straight toward the fence around the garden. Too late Maisey realized her mistake: she'd read how to go but didn't know how to stop. The quad plowed through the little fence before she thought to let go of the throttle. Stunned she sat there. Taking inventory she could at least say the only damage appeared to be the fence, but not being familiar with the machine she didn't dare move it until Brett or Ned could come back and check she hadn't damaged it. She set the emergency brake and took the key out of the ignition. She knew she was lucky she hadn't been hurt and that more hadn't been damaged. A part of her feared the response of the men, but a part of her reasoned that they would likely not yell or get angry in front of her in case it triggered a panic attack. Knowing there was nothing she could do she set to work loading the weeds and started to clear more.

She was in the kitchen when Ned and Brett returned, "What in the name of all that's holy?" Ned's tone sounded like he was trying not to laugh.

Brett didn't try, "Maisey," he called, "if you wanted the fence down there are simpler ways than to drive a quad through them."

She stood indignantly on the porch, an embarrassed flush on her cheeks, "It's not my fault I've never driven one of those before, you didn't even ask!" Brett laughed harder, "Laugh all you want, Brett Franks, but make sure that I didn't break anything. I didn't want to move it in case I had."

She stomped into the house while the two men checked the quad and trailer and moved it so it was no longer in the garden. "Are you okay?" Brett asked when he finally came inside.

Maisey glared at him, "Of course I am. But it really wasn't my fault you know."

"You didn't say you hadn't driven a quad before," he was grinning.

"And you didn't exactly give me a chance," she told him.

"True." He conceded, then sobered, "You're sure you're okay?" She glared at him, "Alright, alright," he raised his hands in defeat, "I'll go get cleaned up then. We moved the trailer outside the fence, and tomorrow I'll take a look to see if we can salvage any of it or if we need to replace it." He called over his shoulder as he left the room.

Maisey was muttering about interfering men when Ned came in the room, she stopped and indicated a plate, "Medium rare with baked potato and green beans, you'd better eat it while it's still hot, I didn't plan for you guys to deal with the quad when I was cooking."

Ned nodded and sat down to eat, "If you've got time on Sunday I'll show you how to use the quad and the tractor," he said, cutting into the steak, "haven't been around citified folk much, didn't think you might not know how to run the equipment or what to do."

"I manage," she told him with an apology, "I did an internet search on how to start the quad, but I forgot to look up how to stop."

"Still, if you're going to be out and about on the ranch you should know how to use the equipment and how to be safe."

"Thank you," she smiled and started on the clean up. She didn't know what Anna was bringing over, "Anna promised that when we're done making a mess of your kitchen that she'll leave you some chicken salad and cobbler for your lunch tomorrow since we're going to be out."

"Mighty kind of her," Ned savored the bite of steak, "Nice bit of seasoning on the steak," he praised, "not just the usual sauce I slather on it. I like it."

Brett opened the door to leave as Anna came up the steps with her arms full of groceries, Ned retreated to the living room and closed the doors.